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Alfa Romeo Giulietta MY 2014

Outside there is a new grill, new fog lights, and new colours and rims. A new engine: 2.0 JTDM 2 of 150 hp. No changes in the rear. Despite the few changes, it continues to be the most beautiful in its segment.

3 months after the update of the MiTo, Alfa Romeo released the first pictures of the restyling of the Giulietta, just before its official presentation in Frankfurt. But the brand didn’t bring big changes with this update. Just as it happened to the MiTo, the compact 5-door keeps its beauty and Italian exterior shape, and upgrades the interior. In the exterior it is possible to find a new grill and new fog lights, with new colours and rims. The big changes come from inside, as it was the most critical issue. Many people just didn’t like it or had a lot of objections about its quality. Even if it looked great (in my opinion), Alfa Romeo wanted to offer a warmer dashboard, based on the opinion of several clients that believed that it was to gray and dark and lacked of emotion. That’s how in the MY 2014, it is possible to find a mix of the previous gray with nice colours according to the seats. In the upper versions the car looks really nice, and sometimes it seems to be part of D-Segment. I could personally see the new Giulietta thanks to a visit to Centro Stile in Turin, and I must say that it looks much nicer inside, with better materials and quite fancy. But it is not only an aesthetics matter. The Giulietta MY has new seats, and a new infotainment system that was already seen in the Fiat 500L and the MiTo. Based on these tiny changes, anyone could think that the brand is having a big success with both models, trying to change them the minimum it can (just as VW does it with the Golf). But the reality is another.

The dashboard had a big improvement in both, aesthetics and functionality. Now it is possible to have a 5″ or 6,5″ Radionav, new seats and a new steering wheel.

This is the way Alfa Romeo gets ready for a very difficult 2014. It will have to resist one more year without big news, with a 4C working on brand image, and two tired updated hatchbacks that probably won’t bring home any big numbers. The new Alfa will arrive in 2015 with the Duetto, and a C-SUV, while the Giulia and the E-Sedan (which is an official project) will have to wait one more year. But the future of all these projects (except for the Japanese Duetto) depend on two other things: Chrysler’s final merge, and labor union negotiations. Meanwhile we will have to wait.

New seats and colours give the Giulietta a better look. Here it looks like a car of D-segment.

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11 responses to “Alfa Romeo Giulietta MY 2014”

The warm leather colour makes the interior look very nice, at least in the photos, but the exterior changes are pretty subtle: not having seen so many Giuliettas in real life, I would have had trouble picking out the changes.

I’ll say that I’m not surprised by the expected delay in the E-sedan: the Maserati underpinnings are very expensive, and on the other side of the pond, the 300/Charger platform is quite large and heavy, probably too much so to be a successful choice for Alfa Romeo.

As you say, some tough times remain for Alfa Romeo dealers: only two hatchbacks in Europe, and in the US the dealers will have little more to sell than the Duetto.

The interiors look great. The exterior is one of the best, very classy. Quite a good job, considering the cost of major upgrades when new models are around the corner. We have seen how FIAT has lost out the leadership in India because of failed comebacks – 3 attempts in 15 years. It is best to get the products rights, just like Maserati is doing with new Quazttra & Ghibli, rather than rush into the market with new products, just because sales is sagging for the moment. If Alfa follows Maserati example, 2 or 3 all new, real-wheel drive sedan\coupes in the C & D segments will be worth 200-300K global sales for Alfa. Believe me, the Germans will run for cover.

The interior update at least appears to bring it up to class standard, although it seems to miss things that are now being promoted by competitors such as park assist, reversing/blind spot cameras/detection and keyless entry. Electric handbrake might have freed up some extra storage space but not sure if electric handbrake would be a retrograde step. Good to see that the door cards and dash materials are better quality than the current model – probably the most disappointing and cheap feeling aspect of my Giulietta. The seats with more lateral support is a welcome improvement as I find that I tend to need to hang onto the steering wheel if I corner with too much gusto. Shame they haven’t adopted the storage pocket in the passenger seat ala the Dodge Dart. The press release also mentions additional soundproofing, so will be interesting to see if it makes a noticeable improvement given it has a pretty noisy interior when driving on coarse chip roads and concrete highway pavement.
I can’t see the stop/start deactivate button in this new dash – do you know where it’s been put? Also, is there likely to be a more powerful 2.0 litre diesel given that this new one has been reduced to 150 bhp, perhaps a twin turbo?
Hopefully sales will increase, perhaps with realistic pricing. Down here, Alfa sales are on the improve and are about 3 to 4 times the level they were under the previous importer, primarily due to big price reductions and more advertising.

Hi Varela.
Yes, it has improved but certainly it is the same car of 2010, so big changes are not part of the offer. Yes, I got news that things are going better for Fiat and Alfa in Australia, and the 4C has been already a success even if it won’t be available not before 2014-Q1.